Emile DeWeaver is the co-founder of Prison Renaissance and has been incarcerated for 20 years. He discusses the influence of activist and author James Forman Jr. on his work, and the importance of centering the voices of incarcerated people in the prison reform movement.

“Acting with great principle in this time is not just a matter of moral high ground but also a matter of personal safety,” says surveillance reform expert Malkia Cyril. “What we need to not do is be paranoid. What overcomes paranoia is principles.”

In his stark new book, “Solitary: The Inside Story of Supermax Isolation and How We Can Abolish It,” veteran forensic psychiatrist Terry Allen Kupers explores the rise of supermax prisons, the normalization of long-term solitary confinement, and how isolation damages people’s psyches. He talks to Colorlines about what race has to do with it and more.

The National Rifle Association uses racism to make people of color the enemy. But the logic that gun control advocates lean on after mass killings—like Sunday’s massacre in Las Vegas—relies on racist assumptions of a different kind. Here’s what they need to challenge to secure meaningful, equitable gun control legislation.

On September 5, former Black Panther Herman Bell was assaulted by guards at Great Meadows Correctional Facility. He spent weeks in isolation, received inadequate medical care and was denied a scheduled family visit. Here, his daughter-in-law reflects on how vital these all-too-rare chances to connect truly are.

Eliminating cash bail has become a focal point in the fight to transform the criminal justice system. Inside the wins and challenges of a growing movement that raises money to free people of color who are in jail simply because they can’t afford to post bail.

On August 9, 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot an unarmed Black 18-year-old named Michael Brown. Ashley Yates was on the ground organizing during the uprising that followed. In this Q&A, writer, activist and artist Ashley Yates talks about facing militarized police daily, healing from burnout, and where the movement should go from here.